Hospice society, Dal seeking older adults interested in N-CARE visits

The Colchester East-Hants Hospice Society and Dalhousie University have partnered on a program designed to improve quality of life for seriously ill adults.

The aim of N-CARE (navigating, connecting, accessing, resourcing and engaging) is to help people with serious chronic illnesses, but who are not in palliative care, access services and resources that will benefit them.

“There are a lot of services people could benefit from, but they’re often not aware of them,” said Craig Johnson, executive director at the Colchester-East Hants Hospice Society. “This also provides social engagement, and people have a higher quality of life when they’re regularly social.”

The program was started by Assoc. Prof. of Nursing Barbara Pesut and Dr. Wendy Duggleby, from the University of Alberta.

“The N-CARE service has generated such interest that after the pilot study in 2015, we had nine additional sites agree to implement the program,” said Pesut. “This has the potential to assist thousands of aging Canadians. We believe N-CARE holds promise for improving the lives of adults with serious illness through a compassionate community approach.”

Colchester East Hants Hospice Society and Dalhousie are seeking seriously ill adults who are at least 55 years old and will be able to provide feedback on the N-CARE program.